Firearms Restrictions for Domestic Abusers

In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the Sixth Amendment has made it more difficult to convict perpetrators of domestic violence, and its interpretation of the Second Amendment has made it more difficult for communities to enact gun control legislation -- thus the Court's forgiving interpretation of a federal gun control law that made it a crime for perpetrators of domestic violence to carry a gun came as something of a surprise.

In United States v. Hayes (2009), the Court reviewed a law (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9)) that made it a federal crime for people who had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to own a gun. Hayes was convicted of violating this law; he owned a few guns, and 10 years earlier had been convicted of misdemeanor battery. The woman that Hayes had attacked was his then-wife -- however, his conviction was for "simple battery." Hayes argued that he did not violate Sec. 922(g)(9) because he had been convicted only of battery, not of domestic violence.